Brazil's mining giant reports $1.36 bln earning in Q1

RIO DE JANEIRO, May 6 (Xinhua) -- Brazil's mining giant Companhia Vale do
Rio Doce (Vale) reported on late Wednesday a net earning of 1.4 billion U.S.
dollars in the first quarter of 2009, equal to 0.26 U.S. dollars per share on a
fully diluted basis.

The earning is roughly the same with the one registered in the fourth
quarter of 2008, but falling 32.6 percent from the same period last year.

Vale, the country's largest private company and the world's leading iron
ore producer, said that it is focusing on financial and operational flexibility
amid the economic turmoil, seeking to maximize efficiency and minimize costs.

Since the turmoil started, Vale has been suffering with the sharp reduction
in the demand for iron ore and other minerals, which led to falls in both sale
revenues and volume, and also led to the shutdown of several mines.

The company's operational profit, as measured by adjusted EBIT (earnings
before interest and taxes), fell to 1.68 billion U.S. dollars in the first
quarter of 2009, down 16.3 percent from the fourth quarter of 2008 and 42.2
percent from the first quarter of last year.

The operational margin was of 31.6 percent, up 27.7 percent from the fourth
quarter of 2008 but down 37.2 percent from a year ago.

The cash generation, as measured by EBITDA (earnings before interest,
taxes, depreciation and amortization), was of 2.28 billion U.S. dollars, down
15.4 percent from the fourth quarter of2008 and 38.8 percent from the first
quarter last year.

Gross revenues fell to 5.4 billion U.S. dollars, down 27.2 percent from the
fourth quarter of 2008 and 32.6 percent from the first quarter of 2008.

Investments, excluding acquisitions, fell to 1.7 billion U.S. dollars,
roughly the same amount registered in the same period last year, but down 50.5
percent from the fourth quarter of 2008.